Cut made by saw initially on wood (5)
I believe the answer is:
steak
'cut' is the definition.
(steak is a kind of cut)
'saw initially on wood' is the wordplay.
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'wood' becomes 'teak' (teak is a kind of wood).
The initial letter of 'saw' is 's'.
's'+'teak'='STEAK'
'made by' is the link.
(Other definitions for steak that I've seen before include "pale by the sound of it" , "Getting cut" , "High quality beef" , "Thick slice of meat" , "Cut of meat or fish" .)